


War Of Needs

by solohux



Series: Omega Hux & Alpha Kylo [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alpha Kylo Ren, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Drugged Sex, Dubious Consent, Implied Voyeurism, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Hux, Possessive Kylo Ren, Protective Hux, Protective Kylo Ren, Rutting, Self-Lubrication, talk of breeding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-16 22:23:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7286968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solohux/pseuds/solohux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A routine mission to a planet obsessed with mating cycles results in Hux and Kylo being held against their will as experimental test subjects.</p><p>[all parts of this series can be read alone ✨]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Omega Hux has become my oxygen.
> 
> I think there's a quite a lot of people in the fandom who wanted more omega Hux and I'm only happy to oblige! The plan is to write a series of omega Hux oneshots, so if you've got a preference for omega Hux and have a prompt you'd like me to write, drop me a message! ❤️
> 
> And it'd probably make sense to read ['i'll let you set the pace'](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6947527) before you read this, just so you know whats been going on between Hux and Kylo! 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy! ❤️

Hux knows that a certain amount of responsibility comes with being a General within the ranks of the glorious First Order. He knows that, sometimes, his responsibilities stretch to political visits to planets that have expressed interest in allying with the Order. With his impeccable skills as a negotiator, Hux supposes that this mission to Dacroll IV will run as successfully as similar missions have done in the past.

But he knows that, with his omega alignment now in the open and known, he has to be extra vigilant to ensure he doesn’t receive unwanted attention. But in the back of Hux’s mind, there’s a rather distracting but oddly comforting reassurance that his alpha will ensure that nothing happens to him, that all _other_ invading alphas will be kept at bay. Hux could have guessed that _powerful_ alpha Kylo Ren would hold a certain protectiveness over his mate, but Hux had never really supposed that Kylo’s mate would be _him._ They’ve been mated for 6 months, since Hux’s suppressants had failed him and he’d suddenly gone into his first heat since he was a Cadet. And Kylo had found him, fought off other alphas and _mated_ him.

But being mated to the Galaxy’s most alluring alpha hasn’t been as bad as Hux first thought it might be. Kylo is strong, _domineering,_ but he doesn’t treat Hux as though he’s a lowly omega, only good for breeding. They still have their differences, after all, Hux has been masquerading as an alpha for the majority of his military career, but the tension seemingly falls away when they’re alone together as bonded mates rather than opposing officers.

But Kylo, to Hux’s dismay, is seemingly adamant that Hux is to go nowhere _alone._

“It’s a routine mission, Ren. I’ve done this before,” Hux says, pulling his greatcoat from his closet and tugging it around himself. He turns around once it’s on, looking at Kylo, who is anxiously pacing around the perimeter of Hux’s quarters.

“ _Yes_ ,” Kylo answers sarcastically, “but you were on suppressants then. You’re not now. Your scent is different.”

Hux raises his eyebrows. “My scent tells everyone that I’m mated. _To you,_ no less. You’re worrying unnecessarily. I’ll be back before you’ve even noticed I’m gone.”

Kylo doesn’t dignify Hux’s last comment with a reply, he only darts over to Hux’s side, grabs his waist and pulls him close, burying his nose in the crook of Hux’s neck, making a low whimpering sound. The omega cranes his neck to the opposite side, allowing Kylo better access past the collar of his coat. Exhaling slowly, Hux slides his own gloves hands around Kylo’s hips and up his back, digging his fingers into his layers of thick robes.

“I’m coming with you,” Kylo says, his breath warm against the skin of Hux’s neck.

“No, Ren. This is a delicate mission, the Dacrollians are a sensitive race and I’m sure your… _temper_ …won’t mix with their quiet and traditional methods of negotiation,” Hux replies with a slight shake of his head, moving his lips to press gently against Kylo’s pale cheek. He feels Kylo’s lips curve into a smile.

“I’m going with you, Hux,” he says in an imperious tone as he pulls away from Hux’s neck to look him in his pale eyes. “This isn’t up for debate. I don’t trust them.”

Hux frowns. “Trust _who?”_

“Everyone.”

Kylo’s tone of voice is dark, dark enough to make the hairs on the back of Hux’s neck stand on end. Hux suppresses a shiver; Kylo knows the _exact_ timbre to use to make Hux want to crumble under his presence, to make Hux want to obey.

“Fine,” Hux says, closing his eyes in a long blink and a sharp exhale. “But do _not_ interfere.”

Kylo smirks, sliding his hand upwards to cup Hux’s cheek, pulling his omega in for a quick kiss. For a brief moment, Hux feels a warmness spread in the pit of his stomach, threatening to move lower, but he pulls away from Kylo’s lips before the warmth has a chance to compromise him, before it takes hold of his calculated mind until all he wants is Kylo’s hands all over his sweating body. Hux swallows hard.

“You’re going to make us late,” Hux says, readjusting his coat and taking a small step backwards, forcing Kylo to pull his hands away from Hux’s hips. The alpha huffs in a dissatisfied manner. But no sooner has Hux taken a step towards the door is Kylo’s hand back on his hip, pulling him back into Kylo’s arms.

“I’ll have you,” Kylo says, grazing his lips over Hux’s, staring down at him through half-lidded eyes, “when we return.”

“That depends entirely on how you behave on this mission,” Hux says teasingly, being fully aware that an omega shouldn’t take such pride in denying an alpha his body.

Kylo allows him to walk away from him this time and Hux is halfway down the corridor when he hears Kylo’s quick and heavy footsteps catching up to him. He stays one step behind Hux at all times, though his body seemingly towers over Hux as he walks, deterring the alpha officers who are passing from even _thinking_ of allowing their gaze to linger on Hux for a second too long. He straightens his back when a particularly bulky alpha officers stops and licks his lips as Hux passes, but Hux feels Kylo’s hand suddenly circle tightly around his waist and hears him _growl_ at the other alpha, who scarpers away before Kylo has the chance to disembowel him. Hux smirks to himself, feeling waves of possessiveness rolling off Kylo’s body, his scent potent and assertive. Hux clears his throat, absently wondering if he’ll be able to hold off on indecent activity until they return.

//////////////////////////////////

The journey to Dacroll IV is fairly short and uneventful. Hux sits back in his seat, his knees crossed neatly with a datapad in his hand, reviewing the information about the planet and politician they’ll be meeting. But he finds himself being unable to concentrate as his alpha’s sharp gaze has been locked on his body since they left the _Finalizer._

“Ren,” Hux says, lifting his gaze from his datapad to look to his left at Kylo, “cease your staring.”

Kylo blinks. “You’re breathing unevenly. You’re on edge.”

Hux rolls his eyes. “Dacroll IV is rich in resources and has an incredibly strong military. Not to mention its incredible research into mating cycles. It’s imperative that _we_ make a good first impression. Your _staring_ and _leering_ will not be of help. In fact, I’m deciding whether to order you to stay on the ship.”

The genuine tone of Hux’s voice only seemingly frustrates his alpha even more.

“You can’t order me to do anything. I’m the one who orders you,” Kylo replies, sitting forward in his seat to increase the invasiveness of his stare. Hux doesn’t falter.

“You like to think you do, but you’re mistaken,” Hux replies and turns his head away, going back to reading the notes on his datapad.

Kylo leans in closer to Hux, his warm breath on Hux’s ear. He moves his palm to spread across Hux’s leg, slowly contorting his fingers to grip the flesh of Hux’s thigh.

“I do,” he says, brushing his lips against Hux’s ear. “You’re mine, omega.”

Hux involuntarily shivers at the dark tone of Kylo’s voice and it takes most of his mental capacity to suppress a hungry moan.

“ _Don’t._ Ren. Don’t call me that. Not now.”

The sound of approaching footsteps cause Hux turn his head away from Kylo, though he can still feel his alpha’s breath hot against the side of his face. The co-pilot of the shuttle, a beta, approaches them with a salute. He clicks the heels of his boots together, his voice slightly muffled through his helmet.

“Sirs. We’ll be landing shortly,” he says, lowering his salute.

“Thank you, pilot,” Hux replies generically, though he swears he sees the pilot’s helmet incline itself downwards a little to Hux’s crotch before disappearing back into the cockpit before Hux can question him on his disrespectful action. Though as Hux shifts in the seat, he feels the pressure of Kylo’s hand still high on his thigh.

“ _Ren_. He’s a beta. He’s able to pick up my scent. He knows I’m mated. He’s hardly going to start drooling over me,” Hux says, placing his hand on top of Kylo’s and sliding it back over into the alpha’s own personal space.

“Whether you’re mated or not is irrelevant,” Kylo says, “they can still _think_ about what they’d like to do to you.”

Hux rolls his eyes, knowing that arguing with his alpha on this particular subject is pointless.

Their shuttle approaches the green planet at speed and lands smoothly without a hitch in the grounds of one of the many citadels on the planet’s lusciously green surface. Hux stands from his seat, adjusting his gloves, pulling them down tighter around his nimble fingers. He clenches his fist, hearing the material squeak between the folds of his hand.

"Remember, Ren, stay professional. This mission is vital in aiding our prosperity. Ambassador Rik contacted me personally to arrange a meeting," Hux says though he remembers who he's talking to and supposes that his warnings are empty, particularly when Kylo smirks at him in a dismissing manner. 

 As they disembark, Hux feels Kylo walk especially close to them as they approach the welcoming ‘party’ consisting only of an old-looking male, clad in the finest of dark red robes. It isn’t as though Hux _expects_ red carpets and marching bands upon his arrival…but it would be nice to have a larger welcoming party than simply one _old_ man. He’s an alpha too; Hux can smell him before he even gets close, smell his desire for dominance. His skin is a shade of light purple as is native to Dacroll IV though his appearance is otherwise humanoid. From what Hux has read about Dacroll IV, he knows they're heavily armed and have a keen interest in biological research, mostly on the topic of mating cycles, and Hux knows he's not due another heat for a while so he feels particularly safe that he won't become the subject of some unethical experiment. 

"General Hux, I presume," the male says, his tone formal and clipped as he holds his hand up in the native welcoming gesture, his four fingers clamped together and his palm facing inwards. 

Hux copies the gesture, knowing that the Dacrollians have incredibly sensitive skin, particularly on their fingers, hence their avoidance of shaking hands wherever possible. He feels Kylo step beside him, though the Knight makes no attempt at returning the polite gesture. Hux mentally reprimands him.

“I am Maxir, servant of Ambassador Rik. She apologises sincerely for her being unable to greet you, General, but she is currently held up with important business,” the male says bowing slightly, his words flowing like a reversed script.

“It is of no consequence,” Hux replies with a wave of his hand. “I understand that the Ambassador is a busy lady.”

“Indeed,” Maxir says, his nostrils flaring as he bows again at Hux. “And who is this you have brought with you, General? Your bodyguard, perhaps?” Maxir’s expression has suddenly turned sour, his long nose scrunches up as his eyebrows furrow together in a frown.

Hux scoffs. “No, not my bodyguard,” though Hux certainly knows that Kylo would like to _think_ of himself as that. “This is Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren.” Hux gestures to Kylo, who stands rigidly straight next to his omega, his dark gaze burrowing into the Maxir’s skull.

“Most intriguing,” Maxir says with a slow nod of his head, his short, greying hair wafting in the gentle breeze. “We know of your… _reputation_ …Lord Ren. Some say that you are the most powerful alpha in the galaxy. Besides your Supreme Leader, of course.”

"Of _course_ ,” Kylo echoes with a small grin on his face, and Hux can feel Kylo’s hand hovering over his hip, the heat radiating from his palm.

“Well,” Maxir says, gesturing to the pathway behind him. “Ambassador Rik has requested that you wait inside her citadel for her. This way, gentlemen,” and he turns his back on Kylo and Hux, walking down the grey stoned pathway and underneath a large archway into the citadel’s lavish gardens. The grey walls of the castle are relatively high, creating a secured perimeter around the grounds. As before, Kylo follows only a short step behind Hux, who’s carefully looking around at their environment. Two large brown doors open inwards when the three approach them and the potent smell of alpha pheromones hits Hux like a punch to the face. With glazed eyes, he stumbles backwards a little, falling back into Kylo’s strong chest. Hux slumps against him but Kylo’s hands are tight around Hux’s upper arms in an attempt to hold him steady.

“Ah, yes,” Maxir says with a chuckle to his tone, turning back around once he hears the following footsteps stop. “I should have warned you about the scent. We have, uh, a lot of alpha workers here. You are an omega, correct, General?”

Hux rubs his forehead with the back of his hand, feeling a little overpowered by such a strong scent.

“I’m…I’m fine,” he says as Kylo helps him find his balance again.

“My sincerest apologies,” Maxir says, sounding anything but sincere. “I had been under the impression that the illustrious General Hux was an alpha but here you are, a little omega and mated to the _imperious_ Kylo Ren, no less. Most interesting.”

From above him, Hux hears Kylo let out a small growl, his hands like vices around the tops of Hux’s thin arms. But Hux feels his mind clearing a little as he cranes his head upwards, pressing his nose to the underside of Kylo’s jaw, and Kylo leans into the touch, nuzzling his jawbone against the warm tip of Hux’s nose.

“I’m here,” Kylo says in a whisper, helping Hux back to his feet. “No other alpha will touch you.”

Hux exhales slowly through his nose, composing himself and attempting to regain control of his body and mind as Kylo’s fingers gently uncurl themselves from his arms.

Hux isn’t afraid of other alphas, he wouldn’t have ever made it through the Academy or through the ranks of the Order if he was. It’s more the thought that he’s obviously so _outnumbered_ by the amount of alphas that live and work in the citadel that his instincts are telling him to run…or hide behind Kylo, at least. But Hux puts his best foot forward and begins walking with confidence in every step, noting that Maxir is staring at him with lustful eyes, but Hux ignores it. Maxir is an alpha; Hux expects to be looked at in such a way. The three walk in silence down the long corridors until Maxir leads them to a shining white door.

“Ambassador Rik has requested that you wait for her in the drawing room,” he says and gently grabs the doorknob before pushing it open, gesturing for his two guests to enter.

They comply and Hux isn’t surprised to see that the room is as lavish as the rest of the citadel. The white, carpeted floor is soft underneath Hux’s steps though he becomes mildly concerned with the practicality of having a white carpet in a room where he supposes guests and their dirty shoes frequent but the carpet is immaculately clean. The walls are painted red, though very little can be seen of the walls themselves as paintings and tapestries hang elegantly all around the room, most of them depicting naked males fighting for dominance. Hux turns his nose up in distaste. For a moment, he contemplates sitting down on one of the two white sofas that are arranged neatly in the centre of the room, but he chooses to walk to the large, glass cabinet instead, looking at the various liqueurs that are arranged neatly on the shelves. Kylo shuffles behind him, seemingly nervously. The sound of the door closing grabs Hux’s attention and the room falls eerily silent.

“I don’t like this,” Kylo says, placing his hand on Hux’s hip. “Something isn’t right.”

Hux turns to look at him, seeing a puzzled expression on Kylo’s face.

“It’s fine, Ren. You’re suspicious of everyone.”

“With good reason. Don’t you think it’s odd that the Ambassador sent _one servant_ to meet you? In the entirety of this citadel, she sends _one old man_ to meet you. We haven’t even seen anyone else yet. And the scent of alpha pheromones--”

“ _Alright_ , Ren,” Hux says in an exhausted tone, “I get it. Some things are a little…unusual. But this meeting is important.” Hux turns, Kylo’s hand staying possessively on his hip. He looks up at his alpha, seeing how on edge Kylo seems. Hux sighs. “Fine. _I promise_ that if you find anything concretely wrong, then we’ll call off the deal and we’ll leave. Alright?”

Kylo nods, leaning down to graze his teeth against the patch of bare skin of Hux’s neck that’s exposed by the high collar of his greatcoat. He nibbles gently as Hux closes his eyes for a moment, feeling soothing waves of emotion rolling off Kylo’s body. Hux opens his eyes slowly, feeling a little more relaxed.

Though as the minutes tick by without any sign of any other intelligent being, Hux can’t help but begin to believe that Kylo is right; something is amiss. Kylo stands in the back corner of one of the room, his head leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, obviously trying to keep himself calm. Hux glances over at him every so often from where he stands at the opposite side of the room, looking up at a large tapestry of three men standing in a muddy battlefield. One of them wields a grand sword, the second holds a strong shield and the third has nothing, kneeling at the feet of the two other men, his gaze locked on the man with the sword. Hux finds himself staring at the third man with sad eyes; the omega, he supposes, wondering whether this is truly how the galaxy views his kind; weak, unable to fight back, only useful when one of the other two alignments need them to be. He’d resented being an omega during his younger years, but being mated to Kylo has brought him contentment he never thought he’d find. Kylo soothes him and, most importantly, doesn’t treat Hux as though he’s only good for a quick sexual fix. Hux sneers at the tapestry. If it was his design, he’d choose to have the sword _and_ the shield in the omega’s hand.

Feeling done with attempting to understand the hideous artwork in the room, Hux turns his attention over to Kylo, but his eyes widen as he notes something odd. A grey gas is flowing into the room from an air vent in the wall, directly next to where Kylo is standing.

“ _Ren_ ,” Hux says, taking a step closer to his alpha to pull him away.

Kylo’s eyes open as he hears the distress in his mate’s tone and he soon sees why Hux’s voice is urgent. He looks at the gas for a second before he catches scent of the gas, his eyes widening.

“Sleeper gas,” he says in a panicked tone. “Cover your nose.” He takes a step closer to Hux, reaching out for him, but his knees wobble, already being affected by the gas. Kylo freezes, his eyes drooping closed as he takes a staggered step backwards. 

“Ren, come on!” Hux says, his sleeve pressed to his nose and mouth as he takes hurried steps to Kylo’s side. His alpha falls into him, slumping bonelessly against Hux’s thin body. In a vain attempt to support the entirety of Kylo’s weight, Hux takes his sleeve away from his face, breathing in the gas that now fills half of the room. Hux groans as he tries to fight against the pull of unconsciousness, but it’s already taken Kylo. He does his best to lower his mate’s body gently to the floor, kneeling next to him as his own body grows weaker. He stares at Kylo’s peaceful face, mentally willing his eyes to open.

“Kylo…get up, _please,_ ” Hux says in a trembling voice, placing his hand on Kylo’s chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath his palm. But before Hux can attempt shake him awake, he feels his own eyes closing as the darkness settles in his mind and his vision becomes hazy, though he wonders whether the gas has just become too thick around them for his to see properly. He falls forward slowly, collapsing unconsciously onto Kylo’s chest.

//////////////////////////

When Hux comes around, the first thing he becomes aware of is a taut hold around his neck; loose enough for him to breathe, but tight enough for him to comply with whatever the hell is going on. He opens his eyes slowly, finding himself staring up at a low white ceiling, with the floor and walls sticking to the same bland design. He’s lying flat on his back, so he pushes himself up onto his elbows, finding that he’s lying on a rectangular black mat…and he’s been left in only his black undershirt and boxers. He shivers, suddenly becoming hypersensitive to the amount of flesh he has on show. Sitting up, he feels at the tight entity around his neck, noting that it’s some form of metal collar, and it’s clamped to the wall with a metal chain. Grasping at the cold chain with both hands, Hux gives it a sharp tug but it only rattles aimlessly. The clamp doesn’t budge. He's trapped, leashed like a savage animal.

But something suddenly catches his eye. Hux looks down at himself, stretching his left arm outwards, frowning at it as though the limb doesn’t belong to him. In dark ink, the symbols ‘OM-1008’ have been penned into his skin. With the palm of his other hand, Hux rubs at it vigorously but the ink refuses to fade. He drops his arm to the floor and shuffles back against the wall, the only sound to be heard is that of the rattling chain.

His room is small, lit by a generic fluorescent troffer in the centre of the ceiling. The door on the far wall looks as though its barely even locked and Hux stands up to assess it, but he’s held back by the shortness of the chain that only allows him to venture a mere quarter of the way across the room. He grits his teeth in anger as silence settles back over him. Before he can contemplate anything else, Hux's attention is drawn to the rectangular mirror on the right wall. Odd, he thinks, that a mirror should have been put there when his chain won’t allow him to venture anywhere near it. The hairs on the back of Hux’s neck suddenly stand on end as he realises that it most likely isn’t a simple mirror at all, and that he’s probably being watched through it right at this very moment. He stares at it with an angered frown, settling himself back down on his mat, pulling one of his knees up.

Hux sighs. The eeriest thing about the room, he decides, isn’t the fact that he’s been stripped of everything that gives him a unique identity, left only with the scribblings on his arm. It isn’t the one-way mirror either; he supposes the Supreme Leader may have been secretly watching his behaviour for years.

It’s the fact that Kylo isn’t with him.

Hux leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes, going over the last few minutes before the sleeper gas had consumed them both. Clearly, he thinks, Kylo had been correct about something being wrong, though Hux is still unsure about what that ‘something’ is. He looks down at the markings on his arm, presuming that the ‘OM’ means _omega._ The numbers? Hux presumes that it’s how many omegas have come before him, snatched away from their alphas and left to rot in an experimentation room. He’d known before he’d even boarded the shuttle that the natives of Dacroll IV have a keen interest in mating cycles, and Hux had waltzed here anyway with his mate in tow.

Hux curses himself for being so dismissive.

His thoughts, however, are startled away by a large crashing sound and subsequent yelling, angered cries filling the facility. Hux stands up abruptly, recognising the voice.

_‘Ren!’_

Hux takes an instinctive step forwards but his body is awkwardly yanked backwards by the shortness of his chain. His mate is in a terrible rage; Hux can almost _feel_ it. Kylo’s cries aren’t pained; they’re _furious._

Too suddenly for Hux’s liking, Kylo’s screams halt and everything falls silent; all Hux can hear is the sound of his own nervous, ragged breathing. After a few anxious moments of standing on his mat, Hux hears the sound of his own door being unlocked and opened. He tenses his shoulders and clenches his fists, ready to fight anyone that the Dacrollians send to take care of him. He may be an omega, but he certainly won’t go down to an alpha without a fight…Not whilst he’s out of heat, anyway.

The grey door opens and a middle-aged woman walks in, holding a datapad. She’s a native Dacrollian, with her light purple skin. Her black-but-greying hair is tied back neatly in a bun at the nape of her neck, a pair of glasses sliding down her short and stubby nose. She looks incredibly stern, her blue eyes look fierce, and Hux can tell that she’s an alpha before she’s even gotten close to him. Her black heeled shoes make an intimidatingly loud sound as she crosses the room, not looking up from the datapad in her hand. The woman stands opposite him, just out of his reach, and looks up slowly, her bitter gaze drawing upwards to burrow into Hux’s skull. Hux doesn’t back down. It’s only now that he realises that he’s seen the woman before; the ambassador that had contacted him personally to ask for him to visit, that her planet is interested in allying with the Order, and for him to not dally in meeting with her. Whether or not she is a true ambassador, Hux thinks, remains to be seen.

“Turn around, hands against the wall,” the woman says. Her voice is low but there’s something silky to her tone, a honeyed timbre that makes Hux’s skin crawl.

He stares at her, making no effort to move. He won’t even dignify her with an answer.

She scowls. “I won’t repeat myself, omega. Do as I say.”

Hux says nothing. He clenches his hands into tighter fists. He wants to yell at her, wrap his hands around her neck and _demand_ that she release him and his mate. But he doesn’t say a word, not wanting to satisfy her need to get a verbal response from him. But instead of growing angrier, the woman’s expression contorts into a rather sinister smile as she turns to the mirror, nodding slowly a few times in its direction. As suddenly as before, Kylo’s cries echo loudly through the wall, pained this time, rather than rageful as before. Hux screws his eyes closed, wanting to clamp his palms over his ears to drown out the sound of his mate being tortured. But he doesn’t. He turns around to face the wall and places his palms flat against the white surface, and Kylo’s screams begin to quieten down, fading into loud, ragged pants until silence resumes. Hux swallows hard, leaning his forehead against the wall. The Dacrollians know Hux’s _only_ weakness and they’re exploiting him with it at every chance they get. If any true harm has come to Kylo, Hux knows he’ll annihilate the whole damned system.

“Good boy, omega,” the woman croons and Hux scrunches his nose in disgust.

She takes steps closer to him until Hux can almost feel her body heat against his own back.

“Who are y-- _ah!_ ” Hux begins to say but the woman’s hand yanks a fistful of his red hair back and he yelps in discomfort, cutting his sentence off before he has the chance to finish. She leans in close to his ear, her dark purple lips brushing against his skin.

“You will not speak unless I allow it, omega,” she says, pushing his head back to where it was before, resting against the wall. She huffs, but then chuckles. “My name is Rik. Or _Ambassador Rik,_ if you prefer, General. I’m the owner of this facility. As I’m sure you know, Dacroll IV is the leading researcher in the field of mating cycles and breeding patterns, but unfortunately our studies on the rutting of alphas have come to an abrupt halt recently, as we need a mated omega and alpha pair to test our hypothesis.”

Hux’s heart sinks in his chest, his eyes flutter closed. He’d known coming to a planet where its inhabitants are obsessed with the dynamics of alphas and omegas would be rather unsafe, yet he’d chosen to come here anyway, bringing Kylo along with him, putting them both in danger. Hux chastises himself. But his eyes fly open as he feels Rik’s fingers sliding underneath the waistband of his underwear, tugging them down to around his pale thighs. Her long nails glaze over his cheeks and down his cleft, and Hux finds himself tensing his back, anticipating her next move. One of her fingers slips between his cheeks and circles his entrance, and she moans gutturally, obviously feeling him tense underneath the touch of her sensitive fingertips, immensely enjoy herself. She adds another one almost immediately, groaning as his wetness grows. Almost every one of Hux’s instincts is telling him to attack the woman, to rip her throat out with his teeth for what she’s doing to him, for whatever she’s having her associates do to Kylo to control him. But there’s one instinct that’s the loudest in Hux’s mind, an instinct that’s only fairly new to him, and it’s the one that yearns for him to protect his mate. So Hux stands as still as he can manage as Rik pushes her finger into him, dragging it out and forcing it back in again at a satisfying pace. Hux feels his thighs beginning to tremble tightly, his hips desiring to be driven back to meet her thrusting fingers.

“Ren…” Hux moans under his breath, knowing that only his mate should be allowed to touch him like this.

He hears Rik chuckle.

“He will be ready to take you soon, omega,” she says, curling her fingers inside him for a moment before pushing them up to their hilt inside him. Hux gasps. “I have some questions for you first and you will answer me honestly or else your alpha will be punished.”

Hux moans in accord, wanting nothing more than for Kylo to be kept safe.

“Good boy. When was your last heat?”

Hux casts his mind back to when Kylo had mated with him. He remembers the exact date; for practical reasons, not sentimental.

“6 months ago,” he replies blandly, trying to control himself, though he admits that it’s a difficult feat whilst an alpha’s fingers are buried inside him.

“And is that when Kylo Ren mated with you?”

“Yes.” For some reason, Hux feels defensive when Rik uses Kylo’s full name, as though she’s familiar with him and he’s not just one of her test subjects.

“I see.” Rik pulls her fingers out of him and Hux takes a sharp breath in through his gritted teeth in both relief and regret. He looks over his shoulder at her, seeing that she’s rubbing her wet forefinger against her thumb. “You’re not at your optimum fertility level, omega, which is most pleasing. This is what I’d hoped for. It’s vital to the experiment that you’re not in heat. But none of this will matter to your alpha.”

Hux growls at her, though his aggressive mewl only makes her smirk. Hooking her fingers around the top of his underwear, she pulls them back up over the smooth curve of his ass, giving one last squeeze to the plump flesh of one of his ass cheeks.  

"We've waited for a long time for a bonded alpha and omega pair to come to us,” Rik says in a hungry tone. “And then we find the renowned General Hux and mightily powerful Kylo Ren. Astounding. Perfect for our breeding experiments."

With no further remarks or explanations, Rik turns to leave, her heeled shoes echoing across Hux’s small room. Only when the door closes and Hux is sure he’s alone does he turn and slump down the wall, landing roughly on his ass with his knees drawn up to his chest. He ignores the hardening of his cock, his own body betraying him underneath the touch of someone who isn’t his mate. He moans in grief. His fingers knot in his hair, pulling angrily at his own blatant disregard for his and Kylo’s safety.

 _‘Get up’,_ a voice in his head tells him, sounding awfully like his own when he was many years younger, when he’d attempted to convince himself that omegas aren’t weak, that his alignment isn't necessarily a death sentence to a career in sexual slavery. Omegas can be strong, he can do anything he sets his mind to, the only limit is his own perceptions of what an omega can and can't do.  _‘Gather together what you know. Think. Strategize. Don’t give up on Ren.’_

Hux does as the voice tells him and stretches his legs out, pushing himself up to stand against the wall so his back is ramrod straight with his hands held against his lower back, as though he’s back on the podium on Starkiller Base, appearing outwardly to be the most powerful _alpha_ in the galaxy. Rik has given much away about her facility. He knows that he’s fallen for the Dacrollian’s trap; _Ambassador_ Rik has probably been luring unsuspecting alphas, betas and omegas here for years, enticing potential investors into her citadel where she strips them of everything and experiments on them, drugging them and forcing them onto one another for her own _scientific_ gain. Hux scoffs. None of this is for science. He knows controlled mating trials happen across the Galaxy, overseen by real medical practitioners and not just sadistic madwomen with a fetish for forcing alphas to dominate unsuspecting omegas. He casts his mind back, attempting to piece together what the overconfident Rik has told him to try and understand what’s going to happen to him…and to Kylo.

The cocky alpha had gotten _too_ excited when she’d realised that Hux isn’t currently at his maximum fertility levels; he knows this only happens in the throes of his heat. Dacroll IV is known for its interests in mating cycles but he and Kylo are already _mated_ , so Hux rules out the possibility of this being a forced-bonding experiment. He closes his eyes gently as he concentrates on her words, eliminating her boring chatter and honing in on key words to, hopefully, jog his memory into recalling something with significance, something that will help understand Rik’s mysterious intentions.

 _‘O_ _ur studies on the rutting of alphas have come to an abrupt halt recently…’_

Hux’s eyes burst open, hearing the woman’s voice in his memory as clear as daylight. That’s the experiment that they’ve been forced into; the rutting of an alpha, the low fertility of an omega. Bit Hux's joy is short lived as he frowns; the two don’t link. Alphas rut when they catch the scent of an omega in heat, or in Kylo’s case, when his mate is in heat. Hux feels _more_ lost now. Those two factors don’t connect; it’s impossible for a rutting alpha to breed an omega with low fertility--.

Hux holds his breath, feeling his chest tighten. It’s not impossible: no research has ever been done on it. Hux prides himself on knowing _pretty much_ all there is to know on omegas. After all, one should be familiar with one’s own inner biological workings and Hux can’t recall there ever being studies conducted on what happens when a rutting alpha _fucks_ his non-heated mate.

But as he mulls over his revelation, Hux thinks that a _more_ questions have appeared in his mind now that he believes that he’s solved the first one. How will they force Kylo to enter his rut? Will they coerce Hux into his heat? But that would increase his fertility levels, so he supposes not, so again, _how?_ He doesn't suppose they can present another omega who's in heat to Kylo; Hux doesn't think that would spark Kylo to be consumed by his rut, his desire to take the omega, seeing as he's already mated to Hux. He certainly won’t allow them to do anything to him willingly. Nothing coherently links together, none of the pieces of this incredibly messy jigsaw seem to fit together. The only thing that Hux is certain of is that this is entirely his fault.

Feeling tired all of a sudden, Hux sits down on his mat, lying down on his side so he can still see the door. His eyelids feel heavy and he curls in on himself a little, bringing his knees up, feeling cold. Usually, in his own bed on board the _Finalizer,_ this would be the part where Kylo would shuffle closer to him, pulling the blankets over Hux’s shivering body and holding him closer, sharing his warmth with his mate. Hux sighs, wondering whether they’ll ever find a way to return to the _Finalizer,_ to return home. He finds the call of sleep to be too strong and he drifts off, his mate being the only thing on his mind.

It’s looking as though Kylo was right; Hux shouldn’t trust anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like I had to break this fic up into two chapters because it just felt too long to me whilst I was writing. The second chapter is about halfway done so it'll be up soon! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> My tumblr is also [here](http://solohux.tumblr.com/) ❤️


	2. Chapter 2

When Hux wakes up, nothing has changed. He’s still alone in the room, he’s still lying on his side, curled in on himself and attempting to use his arm as a pillow. With a small groan, he rolls onto his back, finding a dull ache begins to radiate across the back of his neck. Clearly, his arm hadn’t been as comfortable as he had thought it would be. Hux looks down at the scrawl on his arm and scowls at it. He’s a _General_ , a man with a strong sense of identity that goes beyond his biological status but these insufferable beings who are holding him captive seem driven to reduce him down to only his omega alignment, determined to strip him of his rank and his _name_ to leave him with only ‘OM-1008’. Hux sits up and shuffles back to lean against the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him. He won’t let them win. Though he may not know how long he’s been in here, he knows that he’s _definitely_ missed his check-in time with the pilots of the shuttle they arrived on, and the pilots, as per their training, would have escalated their concerns about their General’s whereabouts to the bridge of the _Finalizer._

Or so he hopes.

Hux’s mind has a tendency to affiliate itself with the most negative of outcomes, concocting the most pessimistic scenarios until he’s found enough evidence to believe in the most hopeless of conclusions. The Dacrollians clearly aren’t a foolish race; or else Hux wouldn’t have waltzed right into their awaiting trap. What if they’d destroyed Hux’s and Kylo’s shuttle? The pilots who’d brought them here are betas, so Hux supposes they most likely wouldn’t have been kept alive. Rik doesn’t seem the type to be merciful towards those she deems to be useless. So what if the _Finalizer_ hasn’t been alerted to the fact that its commanders are missing? He’s alone, isolated from the rest of his crew, and has to find a way to get Kylo out of here before Rik and her sadistic associates can perform any experiment on him to investigate his rut.

The grumbling of his empty stomach fills the silent room for a moment. Hux places his palm on his stomach, waiting for the hungry noises to cease. He should’ve had a bigger breakfast before he and Kylo left this morning rather than just a cup of caf and a simple nutrition bar. Kylo had grumbled at him, of course, complaining that Hux should eat more to put a little extra meat on his bones, but Hux had waived him off as he always does, arguing that he can’t work well on a full stomach. His stomach growls again for good measure, taunting him. Running his tongue over his dry lips, Hux pushes all thoughts of a good meal with a hearty glass of brandy out of his mind. He _just_ wants to see Kylo. That’s the only true need he has at the moment. There’s a nagging anxiety in the back of his mind that’s telling him that his mate has been severely harmed, that whatever Rik’s experiments involve have caused Kylo serious damage. Whoever it is that decides to visit him next, Hux knows he has to demand to be allowed to check on his mate’s health. Rik should know that keeping a bonded omega away from his alpha for too long can cause irreparable damage and, granted it’s only been a number of hours since he’s been in Kylo’s company, Hux can’t help but feel as though the bite mark on the left side of his neck is burning. It’s the mark that Kylo had left on his during Hux’s heat, the mark that Kylo skims his teeth over to relax Hux…or arouse him. Hux lifts his hand and rubs his fingers over the light pink bruise, caressing it, as though it’d make a difference to their grim situation.

The sound of the door being unlocked catches Hux’s attention and he stands up abruptly, the chain rattling as he moves as far forward as the short length will allow him. Rik pushes the door open, looking stern. Her clothes look a little dishevelled, which only adds to Hux’s anxiety about Kylo’s health. The sleeves of her black shirt are rolled up unevenly and strands of greying hair have been pulled loose from her bun. Hux stares at the binders in her hand, wondering where she’s planning to take him. She leaves the door open as she steps towards Hux, her heels echoing on the tiled floor.

“He is ready for you, omega,” she says and Hux’s heart flutters.

‘ _Ready?’_ He echoes in his mind, lifting his wrists together so Rik can restrain him. She fastens them tighter than he would like, the metal digging into the soft skin around his hands. She begins working to unclamp Hux’s chain from the wall, pulling a small key from her trouser pocket.

“Make any attempts to harm me or my colleagues and your mate will suffer the punishment. Do you understand?”

She freezes and stares at Hux when he makes no attempt at a reply.

“Answer me, _omega_ ,” Rik says frigidly, spitting out the last word with a degrading venom.

“Yes. I understand,” Hux replies, watching her nimble fingers move to free him.

Once the chain is unhooked from the wall, she wraps a portion of it around her hand and wrist, dragging him forwards. Hux stumbles, but manages to catch his footing before he can fall to the ground. The last thing he ever wants is to fall at this alpha’s feet. As soon as he’s out of the door and into the clinically clean and pristine white corridor, Hux picks up Kylo’s strong scent, but something is slightly amiss with it. Underneath the usual aroma of dominance and rage, there’s something else; fear and uneasiness and _loss._ Hux supposes now that Rik has been to examine Kylo too, no doubt feeding him lies about Hux’s whereabouts.

Rik suddenly pulls at his chain and Hux is forced into step with her as they walk down the corridor. There’s a group of alphas dressed in white cleaning uniforms who all stare at Hux as he passes but Kylo’s scent is overwhelmingly strong so Hux finds himself looking past the pack of hungry alphas and into the empty room that they’re gathered outside of. Hux only gets a quick glance inside, but he sees that the clamps on the walls have been ripped off and there are smears of red on the walls and the floor. Hux’s breath catches in his throat. He gets a good look at the door as he passes too, though it’s not on its hinges as it’s supposed to be. It lies on the ground _next to_ the hinges, where it’s been forced off with tremendous strength.

This _must’ve_ been Kylo’s room, Hux thinks. Hux is almost overwhelmed by the scent as Rik drags him forwards. He feels almost nauseated by it all, seeing the remnants of Kylo’s outburst, knowing that it’s the result of being separated from Hux.

‘ _Blood,’_ he thinks, _‘that was definitely blood on the walls and the floor. And the door? No mere alpha could do that without the Force. It had to be Ren.’_

Despite his strongest instinct telling him to be quiet, Hux finds that old habits die hard.

“What have you done with Kylo Ren?” He asks in a rigid tone, hoping that he’ll entice Rik to tell him.

She turns her head to him and smirks.

“He’s strong, isn’t he? Stronger than any of the other alphas we’ve managed to capture before,” she says, speaking as though it’s an achievement of hers to have trapped such a powerful alpha, as though she’s _tamed_ him. “He broke out of his restrains, managed to cut his wrists in the process. You should’ve seen the desperate look in his eyes when he was demanding to know what we had done to you.”

Hux grits his teeth, imagining the tense scene in his mind. Kylo ripping his hands free of the binders, charging towards the door with blood running down his from his wrists, blowing it off its hinges with the Force and threatening _everyone_ in his path who tries to keep him from finding Hux. But Hux feels puzzled. He hadn’t heard any of that, and he’s sure he would’ve heard Kylo’s rageful demands _and_ the sound of the door being ripped away from the frame.

“But don’t worry yourself, omega,” Rik says, with a slightly dismissive shrug of her shoulders. “He’s alive. We managed to gas you before you could respond. The collar around your neck suppresses your scent glands so he couldn’t smell you once he’d broken out of his room. No doubt you would’ve yelled back for him, ‘ _oh save me, my mighty alpha’,_ once you heard him crying out for you to answer him. He was vulnerable after that. He seemed _weaker_ when you didn’t respond, so we managed to knock him out with sleeper gas too before he could kill any more of my workers.”

Hux mind spins in a slight tizzy. He _hadn’t_ suddenly felt tired beforehand, Rik had used sleeper gas on him like she’d done in the drawing room, snuffing his consciousness out before Hux could fight it. He blinks hard, trying _not_ to imagine Kylo standing in the middle of the corridor and _yelling_ so desperately for Hux to answer his pleas, all the meanwhile Hux is lying unconscious in his room, unaware of his mate’s vain cries. A cold shiver runs across Hux’s skin, knowing that Kylo must have felt totally alone, believing that Hux had been killed. He looks up when he feels Rik pull at his chain to make him pick up the pace, and Hux sees the older man who met him and Kylo at the citadel’s entrance waiting for them in front of a large, reinforced blast door. As they walk closer, Hux’s senses are suddenly enlightened as his nostrils flare. Kylo’s scent is getting stronger as they draw closer to the blast doors, and so is Hux’s desire to see him.

“Mistress Rik,” the old man, Maxir, says with a slight bow, and Hux notes that he carries a small black case in his hand. “He is showing signs of waking. We must continue with haste.”

“I understand,” Rik answers, turning her attention to the keypad on the wall next to the door. She types numerous passwords and codes into the console, whilst Hux glares at Maxir.

Maxir chuckles. “Don’t be like that, omega,” he says, placing a hand over his heart, sarcastically pretending to be hurt by Hux’s stare. “You’re taking part in the Galaxy’s most promising mating experiments. Your name will be famous if we are successful. Well, not your birth name. Your _new_ name. OM-1008.”

Maxir breaks out into laughter and Hux feels his patience run out as he attempts to lunge forward to attack, though he admits it’s difficult with his hands restrained in binders. Maxir lets out a panicked yelp as he staggers back away from Hux, holding his hands up in front of his face in a defensive manner. Hux growls through gritted teeth, his eyes ablaze with anger as he attempts to bite the cowering alpha, snapping his jaw furiously, trying to get at any inch of Maxir’s purple skin that he can. But he’s yanked back suddenly as Rik pulls his chain, reining him back under control.

“Crazy omega,” Maxir says with a frustrated huff as he pulls his white jacket tighter around himself, “someone needs to teach you how to properly respect alphas!”

Hux straightens his back, smirking. “You’re _no_ alpha.”

He watches as Maxir’s expression contorts into an angered frown.

“Save your breath, Maxir,” Rik says with a shake of her head, giving another tug of Hux’s chain for good measure. “This omega thinks he can’t be tamed. But we’ll soon see.”

She places her palm flat against the sensor on the wall and the door splits open, and Hux feels his heart quicken in his chest as the three of them step in. Hux swallows hard, overcome by Kylo’s scent. The room is almost identical to Hux’s; only slightly bigger and with a rather comfortable-looking bed in the centre, its dark wooden headboard pushed back against the wall. The same _mirror_ that was in Hux’s room is in here too, placed ominously in front of the bed. But Hux’s gaze doesn’t pay attention to anything but Kylo’s restrained body lying on the bed, wearing only a pair of tightly fitted black shorts.

“ _Ren,_ ” Hux says in a desperate tone and takes an instinctive step closer to the bed, flexing his fingers, wanting to touch his mate and feel for himself that he’s alive, but Hux is halted by Rik and the pulling of his chain.

“Stay, omega,” Rik orders, “or else.”

Hux settles himself, his eyes staying trailed on Kylo’s form. He lies flat on his back, his wrists held together with thick, metal binders. A silver chain encases his ankles and his knees, the metal digging into the fair skin of his long legs. His pale body is littered with light bruising and cuts, and Hux can even see white bandaging underneath the binders on his wrists, no doubt from where he’s torn his skin whilst breaking free of the restrains in his room.

But Hux focuses on the black writing on Kylo’s left arm. He blinks his tired eyes, trying to make out what the writing says. In the same blank ink that adorns Hux’s arm, the inside of Kylo’s forearm now adorns the symbols ‘AL-1008’, the numbers matching that of Hux’s. They’re paired then, Hux thinks, for whatever experiment they’re about to be forced into. Kylo looks as though he’s sleeping, his young face relaxed into a calm expression that has soothed Hux many times when he has woken early for his shift and his mate has still been sleeping soundly. But Hux knows that Kylo merely being asleep is unlikely; even with Hux’s scent suppressed by the collar he’s wearing, he _knows_ Kylo would have woken from a natural sleep as soon as Hux was in his presence, and Kylo hasn’t moved at all in the last few minutes, the rise and fall of his strong chest being the only indication that he’s even alive.

Maxir steps closer to Kylo’s body whilst Rik keeps a tight grip on Hux’s chain, holding Hux back from interfering. Placing the little black case on the bed, Maxir’s wrinkled fingers begin unshackling Kylo’s bound arms, pulling the binders away from him until he’s free, and Hux can properly see the tight, white bandaging around his mate’s wounded wrists. Hux frowns, unsure of what their plan is. The old alpha opens the black case carefully, pulling out a syringe filled with a bright red liquid, examining its leaking tip. 

“Don’t touch him,” Hux growls, struggling against his restrains, feeling his blood beginning to boil, his protective instincts screaming at him to not allow _whatever the hell is in the syringe_ to be injected into his mate.

“Ssh,” Rik croons at him, smoothing her hand through his red hair, brushing strands away from his forehead. Hux suppresses a shiver and tries to pull away from her touch, but Rik is insistent. “It is necessary. It’ll induce his rut. Make him _crave_ you.”

“ _Why?”_ Hux exclaims, turning his head slightly to stare intimidatingly at Rik. “Your plans don’t make sense. His _rut,_ that you’re seemingly obsessed with, is only effective if _I’m_ in heat, which I currently _am not._ ”

"No, I know you're not in heat, omega. That's the _point_.” Rik stares back at him with a rival ferociousness in her cold eyes. “Foolish boy. The drug will drive hit rut to the point of no return, until all he can think about is _breeding you._ And that’s where our shrewd hypothesis comes in. _Can a rutting alpha breed his mate **without** a heat?_ We shall see.”

Hux suddenly feels the puzzle pieces fit together, albeit forcibly so.

“You’re insane. This won’t work. You could _kill_ him by injecting him with that,” Hux says, his tone more angry than upset. He allows his gaze to drift back to Maxir every few seconds, noting that the Dacrollian still hasn’t injected Kylo with the red substance.

Rik shakes her head at him, pushing her glasses back up her nose with her forefinger.

“He isn’t the first alpha we’ve tested it on. There have been _many_ before him. Some successful…but mostly not. We think we’ve got the balance of the components correct this time.” Her eyes turn dark as her gaze drifts down Hux’s body. He stiffens. “But we’ve never tried this on a _mated_ alpha before so let’s hope he doesn’t tear you apart.”

‘ _He would never,’_ Hux thinks to himself _, ‘you could take him out of his right mind and he’d never hurt me.’_

But Hux realises that that’s _exactly_ what the red drug will do; take away Kylo’s ability to think about anything but knotting Hux and _filling_ Hux. Will he even be himself anymore? …Will Hux even _recognise_ him? A feral, rutting alpha had always been young Hux’s nightmare as an unmated omega, but he never thought he’d be _afraid_ of what his own mate would do to him. He’s never perceived Kylo in such an overbearing way. Kylo isn’t gentle by any means, but he knows there’s a limit to the roughness of their sexual encounters. Even afterwards, when Hux’s pale body is marked and owned and tired from being taken, Kylo won’t sleep until Hux’s bruises are attended to. But Hux doesn’t know the extent to which the drug will remove Kylo’s inhibitions, the extent to which it’ll cause his rut to overpower his need to protect Hux from harm.

“I can’t let you do this,” Hux says in a determined whisper and swings his knee around, bringing it up to meet with Rik’s stomach. The hit connects and the alpha recoils for a moment before composing herself with a growl. She lunges at him, and with restrained wrists and a collar around his neck, Hux struggles to hold his own. Rik favours pulling at his hair and at the chain to make Hux submit, but his gaze falls on Kylo’s face for a moment and Hux feels his anger curdling within himself. With gritted teeth, Hux turns around to kick Rik again but she’s already prepared, blocking his attack with her own leg and giving a hard tug forward on his chain, forcing Hux to lose his balance. In a flash, he’s being pressed up against the wall with Rik’s arm over the back of his neck, her body pressed against his. Hux struggles with a groan, trying to push her off him, but she’s much stronger.

“Maxir!” Rik cries, “do it now!”

“ _No!”_ Hux cries, twisting his hips in a vain attempt to escape the alpha’s hold. He manages to twist his head to the side, seeing that Maxir has unshackled Kylo’s body and he’s repositioning Kylo’s right arm for easy access to the crook of his elbow. Hux’s breath quickens as he watches the needle pierce Kylo’s skin, the red liquid draining from the syringe quickly and straight into Kylo’s bloodstream.

Hux closes his eyes in defeat. There’s no going back now.

A small moan escapes from Kylo’s slightly parted lips as his body tenses, the drug filling his system quickly. Rik’s hands are suddenly messing with Hux’s collar, the chain clattering as she hurriedly frees him from the chains and the binders, freeing him from all restrains.

"You’ll suffer for this,” Hux says as the two alphas step towards the door, knowing that anyone who Kylo perceives as a threat to Hux will be ripped to shreds.

Maxir exits first, looking rather afraid, his small shoulders tense in a defensive manner. Rik turns back to look at Hux, a smirk on her dark purple lips.

“We shall see. _Enjoy.”_

And the door seals closed, bolting shut with a loud hissing sound as the hydraulics lock together, leaving Hux and Kylo alone. Hux turns, looking at his reflection in the mirror, knowing that Rik and Maxir are probably already watching them from the other side. A pained groan from Kylo catches Hux’s attention and he’s quick to Kylo’s side, sitting down on the side of the bed. Kylo’s expression is no longer relaxed or peaceful; his brow is already beginning to sweat and his brows are pulled together in a frown. Hux reaches out, cupping his mate’s cheek in his palm, rubbing his thumb slowly across Kylo’s cheekbone. Kylo crack his eyes open a little, staring up at Hux.

“I’m here, Ren. I’m not going to leave you,” Hux whispers with a sigh, knowing that the only thing that they can do is to ride this out. Literally.

“H…ux,” Kylo breathes out quietly before groaning, arching his back slightly as the serum consumes him, spreading through his veins, forcing his rut to the surface.

Kylo’s scent becomes incredibly aggressive, Hux notes, the aura of uneasiness and fear that Hux could smell before have gone, replaced by a raw hunger. Hux sits tensely on the bed, keeping tight hold of Kylo’s hand as the alpha writhes on the bed, his moans sounding more and more like growls as each minute passes. His body trembles as he’s forced into his rut, every thought being replaced with the desire to mate with Hux. Hux isn’t sure of how much time has passed when Kylo finally opens his eyes and Hux watches as the final remnants of warm brown disappear from his mate’s irises, replaced by a lustful shade of black. His body is seemingly relaxed, no longer trembling, but still tense.

“Ren?” Hux asks in a worried tone, noting how his alpha is merely staring up at the ceiling, breathing raggedly. He leans forward a little, though startles back when Kylo’s dark gaze locks onto him, studying his face. Kylo doesn’t say a word as he pushes himself up from the mattress, never taking his eyes from Hux’s face. Hux stands up on nervous legs, backing away from the bed, overwhelmed by Kylo’s domineering scent. Hux feels conflicted; all his life he’s hidden his status from everyone, keeping himself safe from haughty alphas who would only wish to use him and discard him as soon as they’re done with him. He never wanted to be mated to anyone, never wanted to be _owned._ But when he’d sunk into the throes of his heat and Kylo had _saved_ him, all those feelings had suddenly disappeared and all Hux could think about was Kylo’s hands holding him and protecting him. He looks up at his mate, who is managing to stand up from the bed, and Hux wonders if these are the same warm hands that Hux has fallen in love with.

“Kylo…” Hux says as his mate advances towards him, “It’s alright. I promise we’ll both be alright.”

But Hux doesn’t even get a growl in response. Kylo is suddenly standing in front of him, seemingly towering above Hux despite them being practically the same height. With a possessive hand on Hux’s chest, Kylo pushes him back until they’re against the wall, Kylo’s strong body pressing up against Hux’s. Their pelvises are forced together, and Hux can already feeling Kylo’s cock beginning to harden, his body preparing itself to mate. Kylo leans down to him, his nostrils flaring as though he’s checking Hux’s scent, probably puzzled by the fact that Hux isn’t in heat. Hux swallows, wondering whether Kylo will be able to push through the drug once he senses that Hux isn’t sinking into his heat. But as Kylo’s hand threads in Hux’s hair, Hux realises that the drug has already taken hold.

Kylo pulls Hux’s head to the side, allowing him access to the pink bite mark on the side of Hux’s jugular. The alpha grazes his teeth over the faint mark before grabbing the skin between his teeth, biting down hard to make Hux cry out. As though Hux’s howl is a starting pistol signalling the beginning of a race, Kylo’s hands are suddenly holding Hux’s cheeks and his lips abruptly consume Hux’s, kissing his desperately hard, driving his knee between Hux’s thighs. Hux can’t help but moan in response, not feeling as though anything is particularly out of the ordinary. This is still his mate, the one who Hux feels himself drawn to when they’re apart, the one who warms his cold outer shell.

The alpha’s strong hands latch onto Hux’s slim hips as they kiss, lifting him up the wall, allowing Hux to slide his legs around Kylo’s hips, throwing his arms around his neck. With a slightly surprised yelp from Hux, Kylo’s palms move along the smooth underside of Hux’s thighs, slipping underneath the material of his underwear to grab the flesh of his ass. Hux wriggles in Kylo’s grip, feeling slightly odd that _only_ Kylo is being taken over by his natural drive to mate. Last time Kylo had sunk into his rut, Hux had been deep within the grasp of his own heat, both of their bodies consumed by their innate energies to mate and bond with one another. Now, Hux feels like an outsider, seeing clearly for the first time what Kylo is like when his biology is forced to the surface, what his alpha is truly like when his feral and protective instincts take over.

Carrying Hux over to the bed, Kylo’s lips find their way back to Hux’s neck, licking over the bite mark and burying his nose against the underside of Hux’s jaw, inhaling his enticing scent which only grows stronger as Hux becomes more aroused. He lays Hux down flat on the bed, with Hux’s legs still wrapped around his hips, and their chests press together. Hux gasps a little as Kylo puts the entirety of his body weight upon him, but his alpha puts his hands flat on the mattress either side of Hux’s head, supporting his own weight and allowing Hux to breathe.

“Mine,” Kylo whispers in a gruff tone as his wet lips brush over Hux’s ear, moving back down to suck at bite at the omega’s neck, leaving trails of bite marks across his flesh.

Hux exhales slowly, feeling his cheeks beginning to flush. He looks past Kylo’s shoulder to look at the _mirror,_ knowing that Rik and Maxir are probably watching their every move, watching how Kylo’s body craves Hux’s, and how Hux reacts to such overwhelming advances. Hux knows he can’t fight this, he can’t resist submitting to Kylo’s want. Hux knows that if he refuses to give Kylo’s rut what it so desperately needs, the consequences to his alpha’s health could be catastrophic. Kylo could go mad, driven wild by his insatiable need to _breed_ Hux, or worse; unintentionally tear Hux apart until his body is too exhausted to fight back. It isn’t supposed to be like this; Kylo isn’t supposed to rut _without_ Hux’s heat…but Hux isn’t going to let him down. His mind wanders back to the tapestry he saw in Rik’s overly-extravagant drawing room, which depicts the omega kneeling vulnerably at the feet of the alpha and the beta. He thinks of himself as the omega in the picture, rising from the ground with his own sword and shield held tightly in his hands; he’s strongest, he’s the one in control. He’s going to ensure that both he _and_ Kylo make it through this alive.

“Yes, Ren. Yours. I’m yours,” Hux whispers back as he stares into Kylo’s dark eyes, noting that there isn’t a hint of warmness to them, overtaken by a cold and empty blackness. But he tries to ignore the way he’s unsettled by the lack of tender brown in his mate’s eyes, knowing that Kylo needs him to play along, Hux needs to _act_ as though he’s in heat, as though he’s overcome by the need for Kylo’s knot.

Kylo pushes himself up and Hux frees his hips, allowing Kylo to settle himself in between Hux’s spread legs. Before Hux has time to react, Kylo’s hands grab Hux’s arms and pulls him up abruptly into a sitting position, grabbing the hem of Hux’s black undershirt and pulling it off over his head, roughing up his red hair in the process. With his palm on Hux’s chest, Kylo pushes his mate back down onto the bed, and Hux bounces as he lands with a frown on his face.

“Alright, Ren,” Hux says in a soothing tone, though he knows that any attempts at getting through to Kylo have already disappeared.

The alpha grabs the underside of Hux’s knees and pulls his legs together, holding them steady in the air with one of his strong hands. With the other, he tugs at the elastic of Hux’s black underwear, pulling them down from his slender hips with a harsh tug, manoeuvring them over his ass and his legs, tossing them aside, and allowing Hux’s legs to fall back to land either side of Kylo’s body. Hux is suddenly aware of his growing arousal against the cold air of the room as he lies naked in front of his mate, who’s leering down at him with hungry eyes. Hux swallows hard, his gaze darting downwards to the growing bulge at the front of Kylo’s black shorts, the tight material showing every curve of his pelvis.

Kylo’s hand suddenly grabs Hux’s right hip in a tight squeeze, flipping the omega onto his front with a slight yelp at the swift movement. Before Hux can make himself comfortable, Kylo’s body is on top of him, his bare chest pressing against Hux’s back. He grinds his hardening cock against the cleft of Hux’s ass, grazing his teeth across the back of the omega’s neck. He groans, lifting his hips in the air slightly, pushing back against Kylo’s grinds, feeling the wetness growing in his entrance. The sharp feeling of having Kylo’s teeth nipping at the nape of his neck sends shivers across Hux’s skin, the bite mark on his jugular aches to be touched.

“Alpha, _please,_ ” Hux whines, turning his head to the side, pressing his cheek into the mattress.

A low growl comes from Kylo in response as he pushes himself off Hux’s body, pulling his hips up until Hux is kneeling with his ass in the air, his cheek still pressed against the sheets. Hux turns his head to the side as much as he can, watching Kylo shuffle back on the bed, tugging his own underwear down only slightly, just enough to pull out his hard cock, red and leaking as his knot readies itself. Hux gasps, feeling two of Kylo’s fingers push into his entrance and open out in a scissoring movement, stretching Hux as wide as Kylo’s fingers can manage, pushing in and gliding out in an already ferocious pace. Patience has never been Kylo’s forte, seemingly even less so when he’s lost to his rut. Hux whines along with Kylo’s thrusting fingers, letting out a particularly loud groan at the loss of pressure as Kylo pulls out, though no sooner have his fingers gone is the head of his cock being pressed against Hux’s wet hole, leaking from self-lubrication, the only thing about being an omega that Hux has ever been appreciative of. Kylo pushes in slowly, though wastes no time in thrusting hard, making Hux cry out as he’s suddenly filled, his thighs trembling as the sensation.

Kylo doesn’t say anything, he only ever grunts or growls as he mates with Hux, slamming his hips back and forth in an inconsistent pattern. It feels messier this time, Hux thinks; there’s something much rawer about this than any of the other times they’ve had sex. Kylo has learned that Hux is methodological, that he likes things to be clean-cut and sharp, and it’s been reflected in their relationship. But not this time. Kylo’s hands roam around every inch of Hux’s skin; stroking his cock, rubbing his nipples and tugging at his hair. It isn’t as though Kylo has never touched him like this before; quite the contrary, but it’s never felt so vacant before, as though Kylo’s touches are simply meant to make him reach his climax quicker, rather than make Hux _feel_ good like he usually does.

A strong hand is suddenly pushing down on the small of Hux’s back, pushing him down into the mattress whilst Kylo carries on fucking him. Hux’s knees slide down a little, spreading out until he feels his pelvis brush against the sheets. He complies with the position that Kylo wants him in, feeling that Kylo’s knot is steadily inflating inside of him, ready to _breed_ him. Hux knows it won’t work, there’s no way that an omega can be bred whilst _not_ in heat…Or so he firmly hopes. When he was younger, the last thing he’d ever wanted is to be bred by an alpha, coerced into carrying a baby he knew he’d never want by an alpha he doesn’t love. But as Hux hears Kylo groan as his orgasm draws nearer with each thrust, Hux supposes that he’ll accept anything that may happen regarding a _child_ from this point onwards…because he’s in love with _his_ alpha, with _his_ Kylo Ren.

Kylo sprawls himself over Hux’s body, burying his head in the crook of Hux’s neck, breathing heavily and grunting as he continues thrusting, the sound of their hips colliding filling the room. Kylo’s arm slides under Hux’s hips, holding his pelvis in place as his thrusting becomes wilder and rougher, rutting against his mate with a furious pace, desperate to come.

“ _Ah!_ Kylo. My alpha. _Knot me_ ,” Hux manages to say between gasps, nuzzling his cheek against Kylo’s head, feeling Kylo’s warm breath on his neck. Kylo groans loudly, and Hux cries out at he feels Kylo’s knot expanding as he orgasms, stretching Hux wide and filling him to the brim with his seed. It’s enough to send Hux over the edge, and his knees tremble as he comes, spilling over himself and the dark bedsheets. Hux breathes heavily, his thighs shaking, and he slides down to lie completely flat on the bed, exhausted and tired. Kylo, obviously being tied to him, falls with him, resting the entirety of his body weight on top of Hux, his softening cock twitching inside the omega, his biology wanting to ensure that his seed takes, that the ‘breeding’ is successful.

Hux lies as still as he can, feeling Kylo digging his teeth into his shoulder whilst the alpha’s knot deflates. Hux doesn’t recall ever feeling so _full_ before; he feels almost _bloated_ with Kylo’s seed and it suddenly dawns on him that it’s entirely possible that he could have been bred, that Rik’s experiments could have been a success. He closes his eyes, _hoping_ that it hasn’t worked, but sleep soon takes him.

////////////////////

The first thing Hux becomes aware of when he wakes is the warm body next to him. Groggily, he opens his eyes, finding he and Kylo are in a tangle of limbs in the small bed, a black blanket draped over the pair of them. He doesn’t particularly remember falling asleep, though he supposes now that Kylo must’ve settled him in bed and arranged the blanket over them both. He’s pressed against Kylo’s chest with the alpha’s cheek nestled against the top of Hux’s head. By the sounds of his breathing, Kylo is still sound asleep. Hux shifts in the bed, feeling an intense ache across the majority of his body, his muscles crying out for more rest, but being of military mind, he needs an update on their situation.

As gently as his tired body can manage, Hux peels himself away from Kylo’s arms, finding that the alpha is clearly too exhausted to put up a fight at the loss of his mate’s body heat. Hux sits on the edge of the bed and rubs a particularly sore spot on his neck, feeling that the skin is slightly raised and bumpy. He rolls his eyes. _Bite marks._ He knows Kylo likes to leave his mark on him, but his usually kept his bites exclusively to the pink mark on his jugular, though it seems that _rutting_ Kylo is a lot more fierce than Hux remembers. Absently, Hux rubs his palm over his stomach as his mind zones out for a moment. It’d be far too early for even the best medical professional to tell, but Hux wants to know whether the experiment was successful, whether Kylo’s rut was wild enough for his seed to impregnate his omega. His instincts tell him _no,_ that he needs to be in heat to be bred but there’s one nagging thought that Hux is listening to, telling him that the experiment was a _success._ But before the thought of having a bassinet in his quarters can push its way to the forefront of his mind, Hux pulls his hand away from his stomach and shakes his head.

‘ _That isn’t your priority,’_ the young voice in his head tells him. _‘Things have changed. Re-evaluate the situation. Strategize. Don’t give up on Ren._ ’

Hux stands from the bed, shivering slightly at the coldness of the tiled flooring on his bare feet. Nothing in the room looks out of place, but the experiment is technically _over._ He’s surprised he wasn’t ripped away from Kylo as soon as the sex had finished; Rik seems to be the sort of woman who doesn’t waste time with idle cuddling. He steps around the bed, pulling the blanket back over Kylo’s body, noting how his mate’s face seems more relaxed than it has done beforehand. Hux allows his hand to linger over Kylo’s arm for a moment, relishing in the gentle touch rather than the full-on groping that Kylo had craved so badly in his rut. Picking his underwear up off the floor, Hux pulls his small items of clothing back on, tugging his boxers up and pulling his undershirt on over his head, feeling a little less vulnerable now that he’s covered up. With a cold and piercing gaze, he stares at the mirror, attempting to see through it, knowing that he and Kylo have probably been under surveillance all night, even whilst they slept. Hux tries not to shiver at the thought.

Suddenly, the sound of blaster fire fills his ears and he turns towards the door, hearing yells and the sounds of heavy footsteps charging down the corridor, footsteps that sound like Stormtrooper armour. He presses his ear to the door but he steps back when he hears the hydraulics unclicking. Instinctively, Hux clenches his fists, stepping back until the backs of his knees hit the bed, standing defensively in front of his exhausted mate. If he’s wrong about the sound being that of raging Stormtroopers, Hux knows it’ll be one hell of a brawl he’ll have to endure to defend Kylo from Rik’s associates. The door opens quickly and it takes Hux a moment to focus. He blinks, his tired eyes adjusting to the chrome shine of Captain Phasma’s grand armour and the struggling Dacrollian hostage in her strong grip.

“General Hux,” Phasma greets, shoving Rik to the ground with a heavy shove. She lands awkwardly with a cry and Hux wonders whether Phasma has already had the pleasure of causing her bodily harm.

“Captain. You’re late,” he says with a slight smirk, knowing that he’s made her smile from underneath her helmet.

“I believed you could handle yourself before we could find you. _Sir.”_

But before Hux can come up with a witty response, he detects a change in Kylo’s scent. It was calm a moment ago, relaxed as the alpha peacefully slept but now, it’s aggressive, _defensive._ Hux turns around in time to see Kylo standing from the bed and make a grab for him, latching onto Hux’s arms and pulling Hux rather forcefully behind him. Kylo snarls, his dark gaze locked on Phasma as he squats slightly, as though he’s a predator ready to pounce on his prey. But Phasma seemingly doesn’t falter. Hux frowns for a moment before he realises that both Phasma _and_ Rik are alphas, alphas who Kylo sees as threats to Hux’s safety.

“He’s yours, Ren,” Phasma says as she lowers her blaster to the ground, laying it gently down in front of her feet. With slow movements, she lifts her helmet off, stray pieces of blonde hair falling in her face. Her pale gaze locks with Kylo for a tense second before she lifts her hands in the air in a surrendering gesture. “We’re not challenging you for him. The omega is _yours._ ”

Hux stiffens for a moment, wondering whether Phasma’s submissive display will satisfy his mate’s overzealous desire to protect Hux from all other alphas. Kylo straightens up, standing to his full height before turning around to Hux. Refraining from sighing in relief, Hux sees that Kylo’s eyes are beginning to turn lighter, the black being replaced with the comforting shades of brown that Hux has come to adore. The alpha leans down slightly to press his nose into Hux’s neck and Hux doesn’t make any attempts to stop him, knowing that Kylo is still a little under the influence of the rutting serum and still wants his sense to be filled with Hux’s presence. When Hux pulls away from the touch, he hears Kylo make a small whining noise at the loss.

“It’s alright, Ren,” Hux says in a soothing whisper.

Hux steps past Kylo, though Kylo’s worried gaze stays firmly locked on his mate’s body as he moves to stand in front of Rik. In an alarmingly swift movement, Hux bends and grabs Rik by the front of her black shirt, pulling her up and forcing her to the side, shoving her up against the wall. The Dacrollian groans, obviously aggravating whatever injuries Phasma gave her in their scuffle.

“I have some questions for you and you will answer me honestly or else you will be punished,” Hux says, remembering those to be the gist of the words that Rik used on him when she’d _examined_ him.

She smirks in response. “Ask away, _omega_ ,” she replies, spitting out the last words as though meant as an insult. Hux doesn’t react.

“How long will it take for the serum to be out of his system?”

Rik scoffs. “It’ll kill him before he has the chance to fight back against it,” she says and begins chuckling to herself.

Hux feels a tug of powerful emotion in his chest, unsure of whether it’s the onset of grief or raw anger. Before he’s even processed his actions, Hux finds his hand wrapping around Rik’s throat, his fingers slowly constricting her airway. To his dismay, Rik carries on laughing.

“You don’t scare me. I will _never_ submit to the will of a weak and _pathetic_ omega like you!”

But Rik’s smile doesn’t stay on her dark purple lips for long. She frowns, staring into Hux’s pale eyes, seeing the raw ferocity and viciousness that are burning inside him, his wild gaze burrowing into her skull. She turns her nose up at his scent; it’s intensely strong, adding to the aura of dominance that’s surrounding him, willing her to submit to his power. Hux snarls at her, tightening his grip on her throat.

“Alright, _alright!”_ She cries, wriggling underneath the pressure of Hux’s hand, diverting her gaze away from his, too overwhelmed by his fierceness. “The serum is already releasing its grip on him. It begins to fade once the alpha has successfully knotted the omega…He needs rest. And water. Your alpha will be fine.”

As soon as Rik has confirmed that Kylo will be safe, Hux drops her to the ground, no longer finding her useful. He turns back to Kylo, who’s beginning to wobble slightly on trembling legs, as though the serum is attempting to let go of him.

“Ren?” Hux asks, reaching up to brush Kylo’s dark hair from his eyes. “Can you hear me? You’ll be alright. It’s over.”

Kylo blinks hard a few times, forcing his eyes to focus on his mate.

“…Hux?” Kylo asks, looking surprised to see Hux in front of him. He places his hand over Hux’s on his cheek and holds on tightly, as though wanting extra validation that Hux is alive.

“Come on,” Hux says, turning to give a harsh stare to Rik, who still sits in a pained huddle on the floor, “we’re leaving.”

Hux and Rik keep their gazes locked on one another as Hux ushers a glazed-eyed Kylo to the door, wanting nothing more than to ensure that his alpha is safe. Phasma picks her helmet and blaster up from the floor, placing her helmet back onto her head.

“Sir. What of this facility? Of these criminals?” Phasma asks, gesturing to Rik with the end of her blaster.

Hux leers down at Rik, feeling an intense hatred for her and for anyone who’s ever associated themselves with her. He knows that he and Kylo certainly aren’t the first omega and alpha who’ve been forced into such unethical experiments, and if he doesn’t put a stop it now, they won’t be the last.

“Kill them all. Have your men burn this obscene place to the ground. Spit on the ashes,” Hux snarls, anger swelling in his stomach. He’d love nothing more than be the one to rip Rik and her colleagues apart with his bare hands, but Kylo’s recovery is his priority. He walks to the door, but halts abruptly when he hears Rik speak.

“You’re like no omega I’ve ever met before,” she says with a slight scoff. “You’re going to go far in life, Hux.”

Hux looks back over his shoulder at her, and she bows at him, though Hux supposes she’s mocking him more than attempting to be respectful. Without another word, Hux and Kylo walk out of the experimentation room, their hips touching, and Hux being extremely on edge that his mate could collapse at any moment. A group of Stormtroopers create a protective perimeter around them and escort them out, ensuring that none of Rik’s alpha associates so much as _look_ at them as they make their way up the staircase and into the regal corridors of the citadel, following the winding walkway to the large brown doors where they entered. Hux slides his hand around Kylo’s waist, supporting him as they walk. In response, Kylo leans a little closer to him, and Hux becomes aware of the raggedness of his breathing and the chill across his skin.

“Almost there, Ren. A little longer,” Hux says when he sees Kylo blinking slowly as they step outside and into the lavish gardens.

Hux doesn’t pay any attention to them, ignoring his environment, focussing solely on Kylo. A large shuttle is waiting for them, surrounded by three of the trooper’s assault landers. Hux smiles to himself; clearly, Phasma had been at least a _little_ worried at their disappearance and thought it necessary to bring dozens and dozens of her Stormtroopers to Dacroll IV to search for her missing commanders. Clinging onto one another, Hux and Kylo walk slowly up the ramp of the shuttle and through into the rear of the ship to one of the sleeping quarters. It’s only a particularly small room, with one bunk and a sink in the corner, but as Hux lowers Kylo down onto the mattress, he’s thankful that Kylo can at least rest for a while before they reach the _Finalizer._

Still being mostly conscious, Kylo manoeuvres himself into a comfortable position on the bunk, stretching out on his side, his tired eyes staring idly at Hux as he moves around the small room, pulling a large blanket from one of the cupboards and draping it over Kylo’s cold body. He sits down on the edge of the bed and looks down at Kylo, seeing that his eyes have completely returned to normal, his irises engulfed with the warm shade of brown that Hux finds extreme comfort in.

“Hux…I’m sorry,” Kylo says, his throat sounding raw.

“Ren, don’t. You’ve nothing to apologise for. It was taken out of our control,” Hux says, pulling the blanket down to cover Kylo’s long legs. But Kylo’s hand is suddenly on his shoulder, pulling the neck of Hux’s undershirt down to reveal a series of bruises and bite-marks littered across the pale skin on Hux’s shoulder. Failing to hold back a wince at the pain, Hux yanks his shirt free from Kylo’s fingers, covering himself back up. “Like I said. Out of our control.”

Hux stands abruptly and walks to the sink, grabbing a plastic cup from the little cupboard and filling it with water. He turns back, seeing Kylo in the process of sitting up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, the blanket draped modestly over his thighs. He looks weak, Hux thinks, drained of energy and in dire need of sleep. The cuts and bruises on Kylo’s tired body look relatively alright, none of them look to be infected but Hux knows it’s imperative for his mate to be checked out by the medics on the _Finalizer._

“Drink, you’ll feel better,” Hux says as he sits down next to Kylo, their hips pressed together.

But Kylo doesn’t take the glass. He slips his arm around the small of Hux’s back and leans his forehead on Hux’s shoulder, his fingers holding on tightly to Hux’s hip. The omega rubs his cheek against Kylo’s head, relishing in the feeling of having his mate back by his side and in his right frame of mind, but Hux won’t be fully content until he sees Rik’s citadel burning to the ground with her still inside and the entirety of her sadistic research goes up in flames.

“Do you remember anything?” Hux asks, looking down at the ‘AL-1008’ inked into Kylo’s forearm and then over to the ‘OM-1008’ on his own, wanting desperately to rid themselves of these bland identities.

Kylo shakes his head. “Bits and pieces. It’s blurred. I remember waking up alone. They’d drugged me with something, the Force didn’t come to me as easily as it usually does. I couldn’t move, the chains around my wrists were too much. I…felt angry. Like I’d failed you. That they’d taken you from me and I’d been powerless to stop it.” He sits up to look at Hux’s face. “Then _she_ came in to see me holding your…your shredded greatcoat. Told me that you’d tried to escape and she had no choice but to unleash her guards on you, and you tried to fight but one omega against four enhanced alphas would never have been successful.”

Kylo’s breath hitches in his throat for a second and he falls quiet, composing himself. Hux can see the hurt in his eyes.

He continues, “She left then. But three other alphas came next and just stood opposite me, like they were waiting for something. I couldn’t fight back, I don’t know what she did to me but…” He stops, gesturing to the various cuts and bruises on his torso, red scratches arching over every curve of his body.

“What did they--?”

“Whips. Viroblades too, I think. It all got a hazy after a while.”

Hux nods, recalling how Kylo’s torture had been the result of Hux not obeying Rik’s demands. He’s overcome with guilt but he pushes it away quickly, knowing that such thoughts won’t currently help them.

“She told me that you broke out at one point,” Hux says, looking down at the white bandaging around Kylo’s wrists. The alpha tugs at the wrappings, covering the cuts so Hux can’t see them.

“I used the pain as strength. And the anger. I managed to pull out of the binders and forced the door off and I thought I’d be able to follow your scent but I…there was nothing. I couldn’t sense you. You didn’t answer me. I thought they’d killed you,” Kylo says, before burying his nose in Hux’s neck, his body crumbling against him, as though part of him still believes that Hux isn’t really here, that his mate truly met a gruesome end at the hands of three of Rik’s strongest alphas.

“Rik told me that the collar cut off my scent. And that they gassed me before I could respond to you,” Hux says, setting the glass of water down so he’s able to thread his hand in Kylo’s hair, massaging his fingers through the dark strands.

Kylo nods against Hux’s shoulder. “They gassed me too. It’s all unclear after that. I remember waking up, burning, seeing you next to me but then. Everything was on fire. I couldn’t fight it. I know I needed to protect you but I couldn’t hold myself back. It’s like I was watching myself hurt you and I was screaming for it to stop but it didn’t.” He sits up, his dark eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry, Hux.”

Hux feels his heart fluttering in his chest, feeling a dull pain at the back of his mind, as though he’s sensing Kylo’s agony at being painfully divided between his needs. Hux presses his lips to Kylo’s forehead in a gentle kiss before moving to hold their foreheads together, feeling strongly connected to his alpha, feeling his pain, sharing his torment.

“Did she tell you _why_ she did this to us?” Hux asks, pulling away slightly to look into Kylo’s eyes.

Kylo shrugs. “She asked me questions about your last heat and then a passing comment about an alpha’s rut but, no. I suppose she gathered that I’m not really the type for idle chats.”

Hux allows himself to smile but he suddenly gets a twinge of anxiety in his stomach.

“She wanted to see whether a fiercely rutting alpha could breed their omega when it isn’t in heat.”

Kylo’s eyebrows knit together in a bewildered frown. “That’s not possible, Hux. If you’re not in heat, you can’t get pregnant, regardless of how strong my rut is.”

Before he’s even processed Kylo’s words, Hux exhales in relief. “You’re _sure_? Because my fertility levels don’t drop completely when I’m not in heat and your rut was incredibly deep so it’s still an entirely plausible possibility that we may have done something that we may both regret but it’ll be a while before we can properly find out so I suppose we will just have to--.”

“ _Hux_ ,” Kylo says, cutting Hux off in the middle of his sentence, knowing his omega has a tendency to ramble when he’s nervous. “Believe me. Your scent changes when you’re fertile. And you’re not. _At all._ How did they test your fertility?”

Hux swallows hard, blushing. “She… _examined_ me.”

Kylo’s expression turns dark for a moment, obviously uncomfortable with the notion of another alpha touching his mate in such an intimate way. “With a piece of medical equipment?”

Hux shakes his head.

“Then she knows nothing.”

In a swift and overwhelmingly happy gesture, Hux catches Kylo’s lips against his own in a desperate kiss, feeling ecstatic that he won’t have to raise a child in the middle of a war. Kylo desperately kisses him back, moving his hand up to Hux’s neck to graze his thumb over the prominent mark on the side of his throat, the mark he’d first made on his mate during Hux’s first heat, binding them to one another.

“You should rest,” Hux says between kisses, breathing heavily as Kylo’s scent slowly returns to its domineering normality.

He feels Kylo’s lips curve into a smile. “Still trying to give me orders, omega?”

“I’m never going to stop _trying_.”

Kylo smirks, but humours his mate, and shuffles back on the bunk, lying down on his side as Hux moves back, allowing Kylo more space to sleep, knowing how much the alpha likes to stretch out when he sleeps. Hux sits on the edge of the bed and watches over Kylo whilst his eyes slowly close and he drifts off into a peaceful sleep, his young face relaxing.

Hux sighs, straitening his back, imagining himself holding a sword _and_ a shield.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOO I'm so sorry this took longer to upload than I thought, those of you who follow me on tumblr may have seen that I've had some personal shit to cope with. 
> 
> About the whole 'shield and sword' thing, I just always pictured alphas to be the attackers (the swords), the betas to the defenders (the shields) and then the omegas to the ones without either, viewed as the weakest status because of the unpredictability of their behaviour and their neediness in their heats. But Hux, having wanted so much to be an alpha since he was a Cadet, has a lot of alpha traits and would totally see himself as above (or at least equal to) the two other statuses, that he can better anything an alpha can do because he's got the 'shield' from the beta too. Just a random little thought!
> 
> And since I'm turning 'Omega Hux' into a oneshot series, if you have a headcanon or a prompt or something for me to write as a oneshot, come to my ask box on tumblr! ❤️ 
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> My tumblr is also [here](http://solohux.tumblr.com/) ❤️


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